On-line help method, software and system for network devices
The on-line help or support system responds to a user help request in a responsive manner. In advance of the user help request, the on-line help system determines if the user is possibly in need of help information based upon the sequence of operational key inputs. The on-line help system monitors and analyzes the user key inputs according to a predetermined set of rules. In case of a possible confusion state for a certain operation for an image-forming device, the on-line help system obtains the corresponding relevant help information from a predetermined help server on the network even though the user has not yet requested for the help. The down loaded help information is stored in a cache memory.
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The current invention is generally related to an on-line help or support for the operation of network-connected devices including image-forming devices on the network, and more particularly related to on-line systems, methods and software programs for supporting the users in operating image-forming devices that are connected to the network via the Internet protocols.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONAs the image-forming devices include multiple functions and additional features, the operation of these image-forming devices has become highly complex. In recent years, the single image-forming devices have multiple functions for copiers, printers, facsimiles and scanners. In addition, certain image-forming devices also include application duplicate functions. One exemplary application duplicate function is to copy two one-sided pages into a single two-sided page. Another exemplary application duplicate function is to copy each page of the open book into a separate output page. As the multiple functions are integrated into single image-forming devices, the complexity has also grown and the users have frequent questions on the functions and the operations. In the past, the users learned the functions and the operations from manuals that are provided at the delivery of the image-forming devices.
Newer image-forming devices have a large display panel such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying help information. For example, after selecting a key for a function to be performed, the corresponding help information is automatically displayed at the LCD. Alternatively, a menu for the selected key is displayed for finding help. In the recent image-forming devices, the above electronic reference or help has become a major force, and the help text is directly referred by the user.
As the complexity has grown in the image-forming devices, an amount of the electronic help text has also significantly increased for sophisticated features and the integrated multiple functions. Consequently, the storage capacity for the electronic help text has become an issue. That is, the associated costs for a sufficiently large storage capacity are almost prohibitive for the image-forming device. Furthermore, the large help information or text is not always helpful. Since the installation environment varies for the image-forming devices, some of the help information is not necessary. For example, the factors for installation environment include an installation location, a department or section where the device is located and the user preference for the operation. These factors demand various sets of help information. Another exemplary factor is that the help information increasingly needs to be multiple languages even if the image-forming devices are installed in Japan as numerous businesses become global. Because of the above described factors, it has become impossible to install a necessary set of the help information in the factory at the delivery time.
To improve the above described problems, a network-based help method has been proposed. The help text is stored in a predetermined network server, and the image-forming device accesses the help server to download the help information as necessary. The above network help facility on-line support or on-line help method solves the cost issues associated with the large memory capacity in the image-forming device. Furthermore, the on-line help also facilitates to always provide the user with the most updated help information. Another advantage is that the on-line help enables the administrator to collect historical data on accessing the help information in the help server.
According to Japanese Patent Publication 2001-312462, an on-line help technique provides instructions for guiding the user to operate a specific image-forming device in an appropriate manner. Upon analyzing a received operational manual request from the image-forming device, the on-line help system searches the corresponding operational information in the storage media and downloads the searched operational information to the originally requesting image-forming device such as a digital copier. The essential information in the downloaded manual is displayed to the user at the digital copier for the current operational status so that the subsequent operation is smoothly performed.
According to Japanese Patent Publication 2002-16749, an image-forming device is connected a server of the manufacturer via the Internet. The display data for various situations is in a language or expression suitable for the Internet environment and is stored at either the image-forming device or the manufacturer server. In response to a type and a degree of the currently occurring situation, a corresponding data is searched and displayed through a user-interface. This technique provides the most updated version of the detailed and easily understandable guiding information without the substantial increase in the memory capacity at the image-forming device.
According to Japanese Patent Publication 2002-258682, an image-forming device is equipped with a video camera for capturing the changing facial expressions of the user. Based upon a coordinate change of the predetermined characteristic point in the facial elements, the contraction in facial muscles is detected. It is then determined as to whether or not the user is confused about the operation of the image-forming device based upon the detected contraction amount in the facial muscles. In response to the user confusion, a help guidance display or a help menu is automatically displayed for enabling prompt and smooth handling by the user.
In the above prior art on-line techniques as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publications 2001-312462 and 2002-16749, it takes an undesirable amount of time to download the help information when the access to the help server is through a relatively slow line. Furthermore, the amount of the download time is corresponding to the size of the help information. The response time is thus generally long before displaying the help information since the user depresses the help button on the image-forming device. Due to the long response time, the current task is interrupted and delayed. Consequently, the user experiences some stressful situation.
In the above prior art video technique as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication 2002-258682, the associated cost is prohibitive for the video camera and the image processing. In order to determine the change in the facial expression, the video camera must have high resolution and must be adaptable. Furthermore, a voluminous amount of data must be processed to detect the confusion in the facial expressions.
In view of the above described prior art problems, the help facility on a complex image-forming device remains to be desired for substantial improvement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn order to solve the above and other problems, according to a first aspect of the current invention, a method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device that is connected to a help server via a network, including the steps of monitoring a user key input sequence of user input keys at the image-forming device, determining a user confusion state in operating the image-forming device based upon the monitored user key input sequence, automatically downloading from the help server a relevant set of help information in accordance with the user confusion state, and temporarily storing the relevant set of the help information in a temporary memory unit at the image-forming device in advance of a user help request for the relevant set of the help information.
According to the second aspect of the current invention, a computer program for helping a user in operating an image-forming device that is connected to a help server via a network, performing the tasks of monitoring a user key input sequence of user input keys at the image-forming device, determining a user confusion state in operating the image-forming device based upon the monitored user key input sequence, automatically downloading from the help server a relevant set of help information in accordance with the user confusion state; and
temporarily storing the relevant set of the help information in a temporary memory unit at the image-forming device in advance of a user help request for the relevant set of the help information.
According to the third aspect of the current invention, a system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device via a network, including a help server connected to the network for storing help information; and an image-forming device connected to the network and having a user input unit for monitoring a user key input sequence of user input keys and an information processing unit for determining a user confusion state in operating the image-forming device based upon the monitored user key input sequence, the image-forming device further including an I/O control unit for downloading from the help server a relevant set of the help information in accordance with the user confusion state, the image-forming device further including a temporary memory unit for temporarily storing the relevant set of the downloaded help information at the image-forming device in advance of a user help request for the relevant set of the help information.
These and various other advantages and features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings which form a further part hereof, and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.
Based upon incorporation by external reference, the current application incorporates all disclosures in the corresponding foreign priority document (Japanese Patent Application 2003-350989 as filed on Oct. 9, 2003) from which the current application claims priority.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding structures throughout the views, and referring in particular to
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The information storage unit 102 further includes a cache memory device or memory storage unit that is a temporary memory unit. When image-forming device 100 receives the requested help information from the help server 400, the help information is placed in the cache. Alternatively, the cache is implemented as a separate unit from the information storage unit 102 in an alternative embodiment. In the following, the information storage unit 102 is synonymously used as a cache unit. The cache control is an independent process in the operating system of the image-forming device 100. If the desired help information is not in the cache, the image-forming device 100 requests the help server 400 to transmit the desired help information to the image-forming device 100. The transmitted help information is stored in the cache as long as free space exists in the cache. As the free space decreases to a predetermined level, the cache control automatically removes old ones of the help information based upon the date and time stamp of the existing help information so as to create free space for the newly received help information. Furthermore, the cache also stores the digital signal from the document scanner unit 103 and or the image information that has been converted from the digital signal by the information processing unit 101. The above image information in the cache is transmitted to the print engine unit 106 via the engine control unit 105 when the image is transferred onto an image-transfer sheet by the print engine unit 106. The corresponding image information is then removed from the cache upon delivering the image-transfer sheet.
Other units of the image-forming device 100 will be further described here. The document scanner unit 103 further includes the ADF, a light source and an image capturing element such as a capacitor coupled device (CCD). The scanned image is converted from the optical signal to the corresponding electrical or digital signal, and the converted digital signal is transmitted to the information storage unit 102. Although the ADF allows a continuous automatic scanning operation of multiple pages without manually feeding each page at a time, for the practice of the current invention, the ADF is not necessary. The communication unit 104 is connected to a public circuit or network such as PSTN and includes a facsimile modem for performing a predetermined facsimile communication protocol. The print engine unit 106 and the paper supply unit 107 are connected to the engine control unit 105. The paper supply unit 107 further includes a plurality of paper trays for containing image-transfer sheets, and a desired image is formed on the image-transfer sheet by an electrophotographic method according to the digital signal and or the image information that has been converted from the digital signal from the information storage unit 102. The I/O control unit 108 establishes the connection to an external device and further includes a parallel port, a serial port and or an universal serial bus (USB). The I/O control unit 108 is also connected to the display/input device unit 109 and to the NIC 110. The display/input device unit 109 further includes a liquid crystal display for displaying the operational steps and the instructions of the image-forming device 100 and a touch panel for receiving input from the user. The NIC unit 110 connects the image-forming device 100 to the EtherNet cable of the LAN 250 for processing the protocol such as hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) and transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP). The NIC unit 110 has an interface function with the Internet 500 via the predetermined protocol for the transmission control protocol. The system clock unit 111 outputs the clock signal including the current time.
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In response to the request from the image-forming device 100, as the necessary help information is transmitted, one serendipitous effect is that the Web server program automatically logs the accessed items in the help server 400. That is, based upon the access log, frequently accessed help items indirectly indicate that the users tend to be confused for the operation of these frequently accessed items. The above indication is important information for a designer to improve the user interface in the image-forming devices 100.
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There are three other techniques to determine the user confusion status. According to a second technique, a pause between the key inputs is monitored. If no user key is inputted after a predetermined amount of time since the last user input key, it is regarded that the user is confused about the current operation. The corresponding help information is downloaded for the current confused operation before the user request the information. For example, if the predetermined amount of time is t2, the help information is downloaded at every operation at Time G, I, J, K and L except for the A3 to A4 operation at Time H. According to a third technique, an input key frequency of a certain key is focused. For example, a familiar user almost never uses a special key such as a reset key during the operation. Based upon the input frequency of a predetermined special key, it is determined whether or not a user is in a confused state. If the predetermined input frequency of the reset key is once within a unit time covering Time G through L, the corresponding help information is downloaded at Time L when the reset key is pressed. Lastly, according to a fourth technique, a key sequence or order is focused to determine the user confusion. In the above example as shown in
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On the other hand, if it is determined in the step S303 that the storage of the current help information took place before the last cache memory update, the preferred process proceeds to a step S305, where the preferred process issues a download request or a get method for the currently examined help information to the help server 400 through the Internet 500 via the NIC unit 110. In the step S305, the preferred process obtains a relevant pointer from the information storage unit 102 in the image-forming device 100. The download request includes the pointer or URL for the help server 400 and or the help information file that is stored in the help server 400. After the step S305, the preferred process waits for a response message from the help server 400 in a step S306. The response message contains the requested new help information. Upon receiving the response from the help server 400, the preferred process stores the newly received help information in the cache memory in the information storage unit 102 of the image-forming device 100 in a step S307. In a step S308, it is determined whether or not every piece of the help information has been updated according to the above described steps of the preferred process. If not all of the help information have been updated, the preferred process returns to the step S301 to examine a next piece of the help information in the cache memory. On the other hand, if all of the help information have been updated, the preferred process terminates the current session.
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As described above, the preferred process monitors a sequence of the user input keys in real time. When one of the above described predetermined conditions is met, the preferred process estimates that the user now experiences an unclear operation of the image-forming device 100. Based upon the estimation, the preferred process downloads the corresponding help information in advance of the user operational help request. The advance help information smoothly guides the user in properly operating the image-forming device 100 so that the user stress level is minimized and that the user satisfaction is substantially improved. Because of the advance help information substantially reduces the response time in obtaining the help information and consequently reduces the operational interruption time. Furthermore, the help information is customized to the user operation or environment due to the centrally managed data in the help servers. Thus, the operation of the image-forming device is substantially improved for convenience.
Because of the centrally managed help information, the updates in the new help information and the removal of the old help information are performed without the user involvement. As described above, the downloaded help information is the cache memory is guaranteed to be the most updated version in the help server 400 according to the current invention. At the same time, the preferred process also utilizes the cache memory in an efficient manner so that the size of the cache memory does not have to be extended. As also described above, when the free cache memory falls below a predetermined threshold level, the existing cache content is reviewed so that the old or not accessed help information is removed from the cache. Because of the above features, the help information is available in the cache at reasonable manufacturing costs of the image-forming device.
The functions as described with respect to the image-forming device and the help server are implemented in data and software programs that are stored in recording media such as a CD-ROM. The data and software programs in the CD-ROM are read by a recording media reading unit in the image-forming device and the help server. The CPU of the image-forming device and the help server executes the above software programs to perform the steps or tasks of the functions according to the current invention. The recording media also further include semiconductor media such as ROM and NV-RAM, optical media such as DVD, MO, MD and CD, magnetic media such as magnetic tape and magnetic disks. The software programs and the data are also delivered via the network to a server, which acts as a recording medium. In any of the above cases, the recording media containing the software programs and the data are also considered as the current invention.
Lastly, the functions that are implemented by the software programs involve the functions or steps that are performed by the operating system or other software programs in response to the software programs. All of these software programs are considered to be a part of the current invention in implementing the features of the current invention.
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and that although changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts, as well as implementation in software, hardware, or a combination of both, the changes are within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Claims
1. A method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device that is connected to a help server via a network, comprising the steps of:
- monitoring a user key input sequence of user input keys at the image-forming device;
- determining a user confusion state in operating the image-forming device based upon the monitored user key input sequence;
- automatically downloading from the help server a relevant set of help information in accordance with the user confusion state; and
- temporarily storing the relevant set of the help information in a temporary memory unit at the image-forming device in advance of a user help request for the relevant set of the help information.
2. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 further comprising additional steps of:
- monitoring the user help request that is associated with the user confusion state; and
- in response to the user help request, displaying the relevant set of the help information from the temporary memory unit.
3. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined sequential combination of the user input keys.
4. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined set of the user input keys.
5. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined amount of time between the user input keys.
6. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined amount of time between an initial one of the user input keys and a last one of the user input keys.
7. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined amount of frequency for a predetermined set of the user input keys.
8. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 wherein the relevant set of the help information is in a series of associated files, claim 1 further comprising an additional step of determining whether not all of the associated files are downloaded before temporarily storing the help information.
9. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 8 wherein the associated files include audio data and animation data.
10. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 8 further comprising additional steps of:
- monitoring the user help request that is associated with the user confusion state; and
- in response to the user help request, generating a layout from all of the associated files that have been temporarily stored for the help information; and
- displaying the layout for the help information at the image-forming device.
11. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 further comprising additional steps of:
- determining whether or not the relevant set of the help information exists in the temporary memory unit at the image-forming device before downloading the relevant set of the help information from the help server to generate a result signal;
- obtaining a pointer indicative of a memory location of the relevant help information in the help server; and
- locating the relevant set of the help information based upon the pointer.
12. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 further comprising an additional step of updating the relevant set of the help information in the temporary storage based upon a predetermined condition.
13. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 wherein the temporary memory unit is cache memory.
14. The method of helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 1 wherein the help information is centrally maintained and updated at the help server.
15. A computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device that is connected to a help server via a network, said computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions embedded in the storage medium and performing the tasks of:
- monitoring a user key input sequence of user input keys at the image-forming device; and
- determining a user confusion state in operating the image-forming device based upon the monitored user key input sequence; and
- automatically downloading from the help server a relevant set of help information in accordance with the user confusion state; and
- temporarily storing the relevant set of the help information in a temporary memory unit at the image-forming device in advance of a user help request for the relevant set of the help information.
16. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 further performing additional tasks of:
- monitoring the user help request that is associated with the user confusion state; and
- in response to the user help request, displaying the relevant set of the help information from the temporary memory unit.
17. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined sequential combination of the user input keys.
18. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined set of the user input keys.
19. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined amount of time between the user input keys.
20. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined amount of time between an initial one of the user input keys and a last one of the user input keys.
21. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined amount of frequency for a predetermined set of the user input keys.
22. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 wherein the relevant set of the help information is in a series of associated files, claim 15 further performing an additional task of determining whether not all of the associated files are downloaded before temporarily storing the help information.
23. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 22 wherein the associated files include audio data and animation data.
24. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 22 further performing additional tasks of:
- monitoring the user, help request that is associated with the user confusion state; and
- in response to the user help request, generating a layout from all of the associated files that have been temporarily stored for the help information; and
- displaying the layout for the help information at the image-forming device.
25. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 further performing additional tasks of:
- determining whether or not the relevant set of the help information exists in the temporary memory unit at the image-forming device before downloading the relevant set of the help information from the help server to generate a result signal;
- obtaining a pointer indicative of a memory location of the relevant set of the help information in the help server; and
- locating the relevant set of the help information based upon the pointer.
26. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 further performing an additional task of updating the relevant set of the help information in the temporary storage based upon a predetermined condition.
27. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 wherein the temporary memory unit is cache memory.
28. The computer program product for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 15 wherein the help information is centrally maintained and updated at the help server.
29. A system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device via a network, comprising:
- a help server connected to the network for storing help information; and
- an image-forming device connected to the network and having a user input unit for monitoring a user key input sequence of user input keys and an information processing unit for determining a user confusion state in operating the image-forming device based upon the monitored user key input sequence, said image-forming device further including an I/O control unit for downloading from said help server a relevant set of the help information in accordance with the user confusion state, said image-forming device further including a temporary memory unit for temporarily storing the relevant set of the downloaded help information at the image-forming device in advance of a user help request for the relevant set of the help information.
30. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein said user input unit monitors the user help request that is associated with the user confusion state, said image-forming device further comprising a display unit for displaying the relevant set of the help information from the temporary memory unit in response to the user help request.
31. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined sequential combination of the user input keys.
32. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined set of the user input keys.
33. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined amount of time between the user input keys.
34. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined amount of time between an initial one of the user input keys and a last one of the user input keys.
35. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein the user key input sequence is a predetermined amount of frequency for a predetermined set of the user input keys.
36. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein the relevant set of the help information is in a series of associated files, wherein said information processing unit determining whether not all of the associated files are downloaded before temporarily storing the help information.
37. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 36 wherein the associated files include audio data and animation data.
38. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 36 wherein said user input unit monitors a user help request that is associated with the user confusion state, said information processing unit generating a layout from all of the associated files that have been temporarily stored for the help information, said image-forming device further comprising a display unit for displaying the layout for the help information at the image-forming device.
39. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein said information processing unit determines whether or not the relevant set of the help information exists in the temporary memory unit at the image-forming device before downloading the relevant set of the help information from said help server to generate a result signal, said information processing unit obtaining a pointer indicative of a memory location of the relevant set of the help information in said help server and locating the relevant set of the help information based upon the pointer.
40. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein said information processing unit updates the relevant set of the help information in the temporary storage based upon a predetermined condition.
41. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein the temporary memory unit is cache memory.
42. The system for helping a user in operating an image-forming device according to claim 29 wherein said help server centrally maintains and updates the help information.
6606460 | August 12, 2003 | Konno |
20030086109 | May 8, 2003 | Fitch |
20040162890 | August 19, 2004 | Ohta |
2001-312462 | November 2001 | JP |
2002-016749 | January 2002 | JP |
2002-258682 | September 2002 | JP |
Type: Grant
Filed: Oct 1, 2004
Date of Patent: Apr 10, 2007
Patent Publication Number: 20050078968
Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd. (Tokyo)
Inventor: Yasutoshi Ohta (Tokyo)
Primary Examiner: Hoan Tran
Attorney: Knoble Yoshida & Dunleavy, LLC
Application Number: 10/957,262
International Classification: G03G 15/00 (20060101);